Post navigation

Gore-Tex TransRockies Run 2012

Gore-Tex TransRockies Run 2012

TransRockies Run – 120 miles, over 20,000 ft of elevation gain, through the Colorado Rockies, running with your partner at all times.

How do I put into words what this experience was? It has taken me over three weeks to absorb it and come to terms with my lack of eloquence. It was so incredible, I didn’t want to leave it, and perhaps writing about it would mark the true ending of one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I’ll start from the beginning, a year ago.

I was doing my fitness “thing” and David was getting revenge on the Malibu Triathlon. (He had trained for it two years prior, but a tumor in his chest and resultant surgery removing it and his right ninth rib took him out for over a year.) We talked a lot about finding something fun to train for and do together. I started doing research – adventure races? (I don’t love biking much anymore), marathons? (Please don’t make me run on the roads!), what? I had always loved trail running, despite setting it aside for 8 years, but it was completely new to David. We went for a few short runs and he really loved it! A little more research on my part and I found the TransRockies Run. I knew it would be PERFECT!! I showed it to David and he immediately thought I was nuts, that there was no way we could do it (his longest distance was a singular road marathon, me – 8 years off), and immediately handed me his credit card to sign us up! We were going to DO THIS!

We seek to live our lives to the absolute fullest, always pushing ourselves to set high goals in every aspect of our lives. We believe in leading the way with our kids, setting our very best examples. When kids see parents setting high goals, working towards them, and going out there and DOING something, they will follow suit! It’s amazing how that works!

A couple with big goals? Yes. Big goals with a stupid plan? No way. We hired coach Ian Torrence right away and got to work. We decided to chronicle our journey with each workout on YouTube, sharing it with the world. We were almost starting from scratch! But, this was an important piece of accountability.

We saw the most incredible places! We ran all over SoCal, up the CA coast, Arizona, Utah – Zion and Arches, remote areas of southern Mexico, the Bahamas, and extensively in Colorado.

We even moved to Colorado.

Our training was excellent and we were ready! And thus began one of the most incredible experiences of my life – right up there with childbirth and LASIK. I expected a grueling week, and something uniquely profound, but I was met with something of a greater magnitude than I could have imagined. We knew most of the courses from our preview runs, but being on the mountains for six straight days changes a person. You have a lot of time with your partner, but even more time with yourself. You can run and run, but you will always be with yourself, deep in your thoughts, finding clarity, learning what you’re made of (or not), gaining new perspectives on almost everything. Adding to the experience, if you’re lucky, is to do all of this with your life partner. To come to the end with an immediate embrace, tears, and kisses tells a lot about a couple!

We seemed to get better each day – physically pooped but our confidence started to soar. David’s doubt as to whether or not we could even do this turned into “how many minutes are we in/out of the next place?” We came home mentally/emotionally exhausted but feeling physically fantastic, ready to keep on running. I do know that I am forever changed and continue to just “be” with it.

I always talk about setting your goals high and going for them. Maybe I had never set my goals high enough before, but what I really believe is that at least once in life we all should set a goal so insanely high it seems far beyond ourselves, and then create a support team and plan to become the person you need to be to achieve that goal. You will find out who you really are and it will change your life!

As always, our adventures are best told in video. We didn’t get as much footage as usual during the 6 days – we were busy racing or resting – but the story is there.

Carey,
The picture of you and David embracing after the race, brought me to tears. Thank you for sharing as I believe this will be something that can encourage others to dream big and sore to great heights as you and David clearly demonstrated that .